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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27136111">Epilogue</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloudspun/pseuds/Voidspeaker'>Voidspeaker (Cloudspun)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Arcana (Visual Novel)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Apprentice has PTSD but it isn't really talked about, Gender Neutral Apprentice, Mentions of binding for too long, NB Apprentice, Other, Please bind safely you guys, Upright Ending, We don't have magic to make sure we don't hurt ourselves, mentions of binding, shameless fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:26:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,425</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27136111</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloudspun/pseuds/Voidspeaker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The shop was quiet with Muriel gone; Asra let Acheron slip away towards the sleeping nook while he inspected the main shop and back room, just in case any hint of the Devil’s mischief remained. Finding none, and feeling exhaustion creep up his spine, he went and locked the door.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Apprentice/Asra (The Arcana)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So! I just finished playing through Asra's route in The Arcana, and! I am so soft! Seriously, guys, if you get the chance to play the game, you should do so, it's SO GOOD.</p>
<p>maybe now I'll be able to think about one of the <i>other</i> wips I have going...</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The shop was quiet with Muriel gone; Asra let Acheron slip away towards the sleeping nook while he inspected the main shop and back room, just in case any hint of the Devil’s mischief remained. Finding none, and feeling exhaustion creep up his spine, he went and locked the door.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Home!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Faust squeezed his shoulders happily, her red eyes bright.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, Faust. Home. And I’ve no intent to leave it again for at least a week.” Asra chuckled. A spike of panic cut his laughter off short, though - panic that belonged not to him, but to Ashe. All else forgotten, Asra bolted up the stairs towards his partner, Faust clinging tightly to him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He found Acheron sitting on the bed, shaking, their already-pale skin bleached nearly grey and their dawn-colored hair falling over their face haphazardly. Their overshirt was mostly off, the soft muslin clinging to their arms.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Ashe? What’s wrong, dearest?”Asra reached out cautiously, then thought better of it. Instead, he crouched before them, offering his hands up for them to take or not. It had been a while since they’d last had a panic attack, though he couldn’t blame them if this was caused by everything they’d just gone through. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“H...hard t-to… to breathe…” They gasped, pressing one hand to their chest. Worry flashed through Asra’s mind, hot and quick like lightning, before a simple realization cooled it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You still have your chest binding on, don’t you? Normally you would have removed it at sundown, and it’s long past then,” He rose from where he’d crouched and approached them slowly, “Your hands are shaking so much… I can remove it for you, but I’ll have to touch you to do so. Is that alright?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe nodded, pinching their silver eyes closed and tossing their overshirt aside. They leaned towards Asra as he sat next to them, seeking comfort.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Friend hurt?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Faust hissed softly, poking her head up from the folds of Asra’s sash. Ashe shook their head, focusing on their breath instead of answering.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Thankfully not, Faust. We both just forgot something vitally important.” Asra soothed, gently lifting Ashe’s undershirt away, up over their head and down their arms. If one didn’t know to look, the silk wrappings that so perfectly matched Ashe’s skintone were invisible; he was still quite proud of how well the fabric had dyed. Gently, he tugged the end of the wrapping from where it was folded and fastened near his partner’s waist, using his other hand to guide their arms above their head. Ashe leaned into his touch, their pinched expression easing somewhat. Slowly, Asra began unwinding the cloth.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He could still remember why he’d gotten the binding, bespelled as it was to be invisible on its wearer and to never bind so tight as to cause permanent damage. He’d seen Ashe, still stranger enough to insist on being called their full name of Acheron, struggling with one of the bulky, stiff binding shirts that some people used, had accidentally insulted them by asking why they did not simply pursue the surgery that he’d seen others of his friends go through, and had then been subjected to a very irritated but informative lesson on nonbinary genders.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe’s identity lay outside the definitions of man or woman, they would vary their presentation as one, the other, or some mix in between as their mood demanded, but more often than not they preferred to present as neither. Their natural curves and the inked wings upon their arms, combined with well-tailored clothing and the binding shirt -and then later this very binding cloth that Asra had given them for their birthday, surprising and delighting them- were enough to make them comfortable in their skin, as well as confusing enough to make those that did not know them either guess or begrudgingly respect their identity.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Now, the silk peeled away like a snakeskin, the magic lining its underside seeming tired as its glow faded to lavender ink. Asra rolled it up carefully as he unwound it from his partner, arms looping gently around Ashe as they struggled to sit straight. He marvelled a little as their freckled skin was revealed, then paused to gape outright as the beginnings of black and multihued ink appeared about a handspan up their spine. Tattoos were not too uncommon in Vesuvia, but he couldn’t recall his Ashe ever having this one.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Asra? ‘S everything ok?” Ashe mumbled, startling him from his reviere.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Y-yes, everything’s fine. When did you get the piece on your back done? I don’t remember it being there before.” He stumbled, before shaking his head and continuing to unwrap the silk.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Last time you left,” they murmured, “before the nonsense with the Goat started. Must’ve forgotten to show you, ‘m sorry.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Asra shook his head, nonverbally soothing them as he revealed the tattoo in full.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Thirteen silver constellations danced around a pitch-black pool, within the borders of which were softly-glowing symbols representing the Major Arcana, as well as representations of the runes Ashe so often dreamed of. After a moment, he recognized the constellations as those used in astrology, something Ashe didn’t often use but which they enjoyed learning about. Above the stars and the pool of Void, a pair of black raven wings extended from Ashe’s shoulderblades up over their shoulders and down their arms to their elbows - those, Asra had been present for and remembered.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s a masterpiece.” He breathed softly, hands ghosting over Ashe’s ribs as he released the last of the binding. With a shiver, Ashe pressed their back into his chest, tucking their head under his chin. Asra took the hint and folded his arms around them, rocking them back and forth gently as they began to sob. Faust took the opportunity to slide from his shoulders to his partner’s, squeezing Ashe’s upper arms soothingly.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>---</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They sat like that for a long time, Ashe panicking themself into exhaustion and Asra and Faust gently grounding them to reality, a source of soothing warmth and pressure. Eventually, closer to the wee hours of the morning, Ashe’s hiccuping sobs eased off and they were able to sit up and start wiping at their eyes. Asra took the opportunity to finish rolling the silk up and set it in its place on the dresser, and to fetch a washcloth and warm water for Ashe’s face. This, he felt, had likely been building for a while, and the forgotten binding was more the final straw than the original trigger.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Ashe, as always, basked in his attentions while pretending only to tolerate them, he could feel the echoes of their relief at his touch even as they half-protested him wiping their face. After letting him wash away the tear-stains they ducked away from him and grabbed a soft white shirt -one of his, not one of theirs, he noticed with a grin- and slipped it over their head, hiding their tattoos and their chest from view. Faust wriggled in surprise on their arm as the fabric covered her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“‘M tired... “ they slurred softly, wobbling to their feet to trade their skirts for sleeping pants. Asra couldn’t help the little chuckle that escaped his lips, and rose to his feet with the intent of finding his own sleeping clothes - sans shirt, it seemed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Agreed, I feel like after everything that happened over the past few weeks I could sleep for a week or more.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Sleepy.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Faust added, sticking her head out of the borrowed shirt’s sleeve. Ashe absentmindedly scritched her chin as they disentangled her from their arm, placing her on the end of the bed to find one of her favorite sleeping spots before they crawled under the messy blankets. Asra chuckled again and shook his head, leaning over to blow out the candle on the windowsill before following them into the fluffy nest they had made. Ashe nestled into his side the moment he laid down, pressing their face into his chest and wrapping their arms around his ribs to pull him close. Asra’s smile widened; he wrapped one arm around their shoulders, letting the other rest at the divot of their waist as he pressed his cheek into the crown of their head. Faust was a light weight at his hip, sliding up and over his side and into a nook he and Ashe often left between their bodies for her, where she would be warmest.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Sleep, my dear ones. The world can handle any further crises without us for a while.” He murmured, already knowing that Ashe was asleep.<br/></span>
</p>
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